What is wrong with Fe photovoltaic cells

• Scientists at Swedish Lund University are exploring the process due to which about a third of Fe-based solar cells’ energy is wasted. Identifying the way charge loss happens, they insist, is going to be the initial move toward solving the problem and creating high-efficiency photovoltaic cells of cheap and available material.

Scientists at Sweden-based Lund University, after examining an iron-comprised molecule, state it can become an affordable alternative to PV cells based on rarer materials. 

For deeper insight into the light absorbance and charge carrying capacity of the iron NHC complex they created, the team went to Leland Stanford Junior University to experiment with the help of a FEL. 

The conclusions are posted in Angewandte journal. The scientists have witnessed two trajectories by which molecules stimulated by light got back to their initial condition prior to charge extraction. The team has concluded that approximately every third molecule relaxes back in about 150 fs. 

It has been proven that in every third case, the electron cannot remain positioned for the time period sufficient for extracting the energy, according to head of the experiment. In fact, the energy vanishes too quickly through an unexpected way.

Solving the problem 

Detecting the channel allowed the team to start considering possible ways of solving the problem to avoid the loss. The experts announce their plans to continue the research with the help of such top devices like Stanford University’s laser and Lund-based MAX IV laboratory. 

The scientists affirm if they see the possibility to get energy from every electron available, it will maximize the efficiency of such iron-made PV cells or light-excited catalysts, say the researchers.